The 25 Best Atmosphere Songs

Presented by Pigeons and Planes.

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"The Arrival"

Album: You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
Year: 2005

Four albums and nearly a decade into a critically and commercially (by independent standards) successful career, some groups might see fit to calm things down a bit, achievement diminishing the hunger that led to prior greatness. Kicking off You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having with "The Arrival" signaled that neither accomplishment nor age would dull the duo. Built on a blistering sample, "The Arrival" sees Slug at his energized peak, diving headlong into a restatement of purpose that eschewed most of the usual emotional intricacies of an Atmosphere song for sheer bravado.

"You"

Album: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

Year: 2005

A lot of Atmosphere fans probably hate this song. It's the closest Slug and Ant have ever gotten to making an all-out pop song, but they do it their way, working in the struggles of your working class young American trying to make ends meet, and despite the fact that you might not want to hear Atmosphere making pop songs, you have to admit they did a damn good job making this one catchy and accessible without straying too far from the things that made them so successful in the first place.

"Ode to the Modern Man"

Album: Overcast!

Year: 1997

With any title or lyric in Atmosphere's catalog, a certain level of sarcasm (or, at very least, multiple levels of meaning) requires consideration. A song called "Ode to the Modern Man" in Slug and Ant's hands seems almost predestined for darkness; sure enough, the song almost immediately subverts the idea of an ode, with Slug matter-of-factly opening the first verse on a note of critical reflection: "Word to B E, I'm a tad bit to easy on self/And maybe I should keep a closer tab on my health." While "Ode to the Modern Man" largely trafficks in the sort of amorphous battle raps that typify Slug and partner in crime Spawn during the Overcast! era, Ant's production prefigures the funk and soul-influenced sound that would chart the group's rise from local Minnesotan sensation to nation-touring independent super group.

"Smart Went Crazy"

Album: You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having

Year: 2005

In the rap world, there is perhaps no group that is more of an outlier than Atmosphere. From the "emo rap" label to underground staple to one of the most successful independent hip-hop acts out with lasting relevance and a dedicated, die-hard following, Atmosphere made the team, and they did it their way, without putting on a uniform. "Smart Went Crazy" feels like the anthem for all of that. In a lot of ways, it's a battle cry that calls for everyone to give up on trying to fit in, and that's something any Atmosphere fan should be able to get behind. If the words don't resonate, Ant's adrenaline inducing production will.

"Between The Lines"

Album: Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs

Year: 2001

Though Atmosphere could never properly be classified as a "conscious" rap group, their music has always been typified by an awareness that looks both profoundly inward and out at the world, as well as the varying realities, hardships, and triumphs (though rarely the latter) of the human condition. "Between the Lines" opens the duo's seminal collection, Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs, with the sort of layered character study you might expect from a Robert Altman or Paul Thomas Anderson film, detailing the lives of three seemingly unrelated individuals in each of its three verses, beginning with a police man, moving to a woman lost in violent, film-driven fantasies, and ending with a frustrated underground rapper. Each story skates through the tragedies, both minor and soul-crushing, of daily reality, beginning with the loneliness of the policeman, finishing with the rapper's suicide. "Between the Lines" chills to the bone, its narratives delivered eloquently and matter of factly by Slug as Ant's sympathetic rhodes sample plays the warmly melancholy backing band.

"Cuando Limpia El Humo"

Album: Overcast!

Year: 1997

In the Overcast! period, Slug balanced his burgeoning emotional honesty on record with a lyrical abstraction that felt heavily influenced by his loose cast of running mates in the fiercely eccentric Anticon collective. “Cuando Limpia El Humo” is the sort of freely associative battle rap that marked early Anticon and Atmosphere alike, old school boasting wrapped in unusual imagery, protracted metaphors, and clever punctuating lines (”I feel like I've been to hell and back and I ain't even been to Vegas”). It never takes aim at a clear target, scattering shots at amorphous rival emcees, a glimpse at how Atmosphere (then a trio: Slug, Ant, and rapper Spawn) aimed to blend decades of rap's traditional influence and code with a world of new ideas and modes of expression.

"Homecoming" ft. El-P

Album: Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs

Year: 2001

Hidden at the end of Lucy Ford, Atmosphere enlisted the help of Definitive Jux commander-in-chief El-P to craft the grimly nostalgic bonus song, "Homecoming." With snares that recall Mobb Deep, a piano loop that sounds ripped from a haunted vaudeville show, and swirling, ghostly vocal samples, El-P tweaks the sound the duo spent two EPs establishing, crafting a fittingly dark background for Slug and El to divulge the intricacies of their childhoods, a reflection on the growth from childhood to adolescence and beyond both celebratory and melancholic. Aside from musical merit, "Homecoming" is also notable for a rare, on-record alignment of two then-emergent, underground powerhouses, with Definitive Jux and Atmosphere's Rhymesayers label taking center stage in American independent hip-hop at the beginning of the 21st century.

"The Abusing of the Rib"

Album: Headshots: SE7EN

Year: 1998/2005 Reissue

In the years directly after Overcast!, Slug began to plumb his emotional reserves for inspiration, transforming his imaginative battle raps into sharp, deeply personal explorations. "The Abusing of the Rib," from rarities collection Headshots: SE7EN (Note: Though credited to Slug as a solo effort in its early days, the album was produced and recorded by Ant, and later remastered and released with credit to Atmosphere), gives an early glimpse into the dense, detailed writing that would become Slug's trademark. From its title (which references the biblical Eve, the first woman, created from Adam's rib) to its surrealist opening lines, "The Abusing of the Rib" is a rare example of rap impressionism, using metaphor and abstract imagery to create an intricate portrayal of one lover learning another's past to make sense of their collective present. Rounded out by by Ant's classically-inclined piano loop and boom-bap drums, "The Abusing of the Rib" is textbook Atmosphere, the sort of song you might play someone who'd never heard of the dup, offering a microcosm of a few major, recurrent aspects of the group's catalog.

"Onemosphere"

Album: God Loves Ugly

Year: 2002

“Atmosphere, and maybe you don't like us/But of all the stars in the sky, believe we're one of the brightest.” With that plain, blistering opening couplet, “Onemosphere” kicks off Atmosphere's second full length album, God Loves Ugly, with the combination of self-awareness and ego that gave the group its singular power, a formula codified across the songs that followed. Riding a skeletal Ant beat, Slug spells out his particular gifts (“And I'm possessed with that insight that enables me to laugh better”) and sets the stage for Atmosphere's next steps, the polishing of the sound that won them fans and turned “God Loves Ugly” into one of their best (and best-selling) albums.

THE 30 BEST UNDERGROUND HIP-HOP ALBUMS

"Sound is Vibration"

Album: Overcast!

Year: 1997

Built atop playful harp plucks and thunderous percussion, Atmosphere's "Sound is Vibration" serves up battle rhymes with brevity, a confrontational stream of consciousness woven back and forth by Slug and Spawn, challenging rival emcees and carving out the trio's own lane. Though dealing in expected bravado, "Sound is Vibration" also riffs on battling's tradition of stylistic oneupsmanship, using abstract and clever imagery to argue Atmosphere's superiority over the usual assortment of unnamed rivals. It's an intriguing take on the form, one far less labored and earnest than much of the anti-mainstream, battle-style rapping that the late '90s and early 2000s produced, and, as a result, far more refreshing and entertaining.

"Vampires"

Album: God Loves Ugly

Year: 2002

“Vampires” laments the state of the U.S., Atmosphere's hometown, and the inhabitants of both, mournfully observing how the world confines and drains: “Let's hide the bodies under the bridge/This world is a vampire, she eats her kids.” Through Slug's world weary lens, "Vampires" calls for revolution without being dully didactic or preachy, detailing the a society's issues and warning, “If we let her, she'll do whatever it takes to survive/You don't stop till you take her life,” an ominous portent that leaves choice in the hands of the listener. Ant's propulsive percussion and aching guitar complete the package, giving the impression of a would-be revolutionary sitting at his window watching, the consideration before the storm.

"Travel"

Album: Headshots: SE7EN

Year: 1998/2005 Reissue

Independent hip-hop still exists and is as strong as ever, but it doesn't feel like the same community as the one you thought of when you heard the word "underground." Back in the late '90s and early 2000s, it felt like a cohesive unit. From Living Legends to Atmosphere to Company Flow, there was a sense of camaraderie among the rappers who were building a cult following one show at a time and joining forces along the way. On "Travel," Slug calls out his friends, who also happen to be a part of that community, and reminisces on inside stories of drinking 30 packs and bumming on couches. It's a far cry from some of his more in-depth songwriting, and if you read it on paper it almost looks like a throwaway shout out track, but it sums up and important time in independent hip-hop with a rare candidness that makes anyone who listens feel like a part of something special.

"Puppets"

Album: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

Year: 2005

“Puppets” illustrates the uniquely conversational anthems Atmosphere has a gift for concocting. As ever, Ant keeps things simple, allowing excellent sound choice–a typically evocative piano, a choir and little else–to create a perfect open canvas for Slug to have a talk with an unidentified companion that may very well be Slug himself (“I know a guy with a rockstar life/But he still don't fly so he's mad at the sky...Seems like he's got a lot of complaints/About how nowadays things ain't the same/Used to place some faith in the basement/A toast to this guy and the kids that he came with”).

If “Trying to Find A Balance” is Atmosphere's shotgun blast aimed at fame, “Puppets” is the knowing nod that examines what happens after a perceived “glory period” (“I think it's great how you used to be great/I can't hate on how you choose to relate/But I know that you had the potential/I understand why you wanted to let go”), critically commiserating with the quest for fame, calling out “puppets” and commanding success on its own terms as Atmosphere employs the formula that got it to a point where Slug could comment on this situation with any sort of authority. “Puppets” is a reminder that Atmosphere's in on the joke, as aware of their own foibles as any of their fans or detractors.

"Don't Ever Fucking Question That"

Album: Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs

Year: 2001

In Atmosphere's catalog, one word looms larger than any other: "Lucy." The target of Slug's emotion and fury, Lucy first appears on "Don't Ever Fucking Question That," the elusive, oft-infuriating love interest of the group's emcee. "Don't Ever Fucking Question That" is that rarest of rap beasts, an artist professing his love so passionately and explicitly that it most closely resemble anger, a fitting prism for a turbulent romance. Ant's production provides a gorgeous, harp-driven accompaniment, a sort of darkly pop-y undercurrent, a fine example of his unique ear for samples that combine hip-hop sensibilities with attention grabbing elements that entice those who might not otherwise listen to a rap song called "Don't Ever Fucking Question That."

"Sunshine"

Album: Sad Clown Bad Summer 9

Year: 2007

Atmosphere's biggest hit to date, "Sunshine," is a highly unusual gem: a happy Atmosphere song. An ode to beautiful, sunny days, "Sunshine" is Slug at his most upbeat, still able to inject a bit of acerbic wit (the first verse begins in the midst of a horrible hangover) while looking at the world with far rosier glasses than usual. Matched with Ant's upbeat, piano-laced production, "Sunshine" perfectly evokes the feelings it describes, a testament to Atmosphere's ability to entertainingly execute a concept (and step outside of their normal confines while still creating something unmistakably their own).

"GodLovesUgly"

Album: God Loves Ugly

Year: 2002

The title track of one of Atmosphere's most beloved albums, "GodLovesUgly" clearly encapsulates Slug's outlook at the time of release: "I wear my scars like the rings on a pimp/I live life like the captain of a sinking ship." A mixture of self-loathing and bravado, self-deprecation and bitter realism, "GodLovesUgly" is the sound of the still doubtful underdog turning weaknesses into strengths, roadblocks into opportunity, a notion Slug captures deftly: "I'mma creep through the night and put a plug in the spigot/And when the water grows, and the dam starts to overflow/I'll float on top the flood holdin' on to my ugly." Ant's pensive boom bap–the familiar combination of heavy snares and hypnotic piano–accompanies the emcee well, a musical embodiment of Slug's tip-toeing the line between confidence and dejection.

"Nothing But Sunshine"

Album: Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs

Year: 2001

While much of Slug's power as a rapper comes from his ability to mine biographical details for pointed observation, his keen attention to detail and deep empathy make him a capable storyteller no matter whether he's telling his tale or someone else's. On "Nothing But Sunshine," Slug explores the intricacies of damaged childhoods–dying parents, alcohol abuse at an early age, and philandering figuring centrally into Slug's story of tortured (though not necessarily misspent) youth. Set against the nostalgic keys of Moodswing9's beat, Slug crafts a world both sharply satirical and painfully vibrant.

"Modern Man's Hustle"

Album: God Loves Ugly

Year: 2002

As the single from God Loves Ugly, "Modern Man's Hustle" signaled the more soul-inspired direction Atmosphere would pursue on future albums, while taking root firmly in the sort of conversational narrative and emotional intricacy that secured the duo a rabid fanbase at the turn of the millennium. As usual with Slug's early 2000s writing, "Modern Man's Hustle" concerns itself primarily with an unnammed lover and a relationship that passes from lust into something more sympathetic and complex, a conqueror becoming a sort of would-be protector. In under four minutes, Slug runs down a detailed, occasionally contradictory set of feelings, an honest, intensely personal reflection of how relationships shift over time, providing a fitting microcosm of Atmosphere's catalog over Ant's evocative production.

"Trying To Find A Balance"

Album: Seven's Travels

Year: 2003

After years of building a diehard fanbase on the strength of stellar releases and extensive touring, Atmosphere seemed poised to make a leap into the mainstream. A forceful memo to old fans and potential listeners alike, “Trying to Find A Balance” spells out its mission from the outset, its title and opening stanzas immediately positioning us in the midst of Slug's dilemma: “Atmosphere finally made a good record/Yeah that shit almost sounds convincing/The last time I felt as sick and contradictive as this/Was the last time we played a show in Cinci.” From its insistent, anthemic beat to its personal lyrics (reading like a sort of career retrospective at points), “Trying to Find A Balance” embodies the struggle to stay true to core values while forging ahead into something grander and more commercial, detailing the conflict as it attempts to solve it. “Trying to Find A Balance,” unsurprisingly, is one of Atmosphere's biggest selling singles, a statement of purpose fulfilled.

"God's Bathroom Floor"

Album: Overcast!

Year: 1997

At his best, Slug manages to marry a certain poetry–not in the overly flowery sense, but in terms of a delicate touch with word choice–with the topic at hand, whether rhyming about the walk to a store or a scorned lover. On "God's Batheroom Floor," Slug examines the pains and tribulations of addiction, loosely detailing the intensifying descent, the logic of an addict, and the anger that arises in the wake of a life damaged. It's hazy and loose, a patchwork of conversation snippets, evocative images, and internal monologue, a strained battle ultimately ending in tragedy: Slug's character overdoses in the final verse, fading to black on bathroom tile. Intensely personal and all the more relatable because of it, "God's Bathroom Floor" projects the horror of addiction rather than merely describing it.

(Note: Originally appearing on the Overcast! EP that preceded the album of the same name, "God's Bathroom Floor" only appears in full form Sad Clown Bad Dub 7, part of an ongoing collection of Atmosphere rarities and unreleased tracks.

"Always Coming Back Home To You"

Album: Seven's Travels

Year: 2003

It's funny that this ends up high on so many Atmosphere fans' lists of favorite songs, because Slug doesn't seem to like it very much. He even told Complex, "I never had much faith in it. It’s not a very well-written song." But this song is nostalgia perfected, and as Slug takes you down the streets he grew up on we can't help but recall stories of our own, drinking and smoking in parking lots, being stupid kids, getting into trouble. More than glorification and exaggeration—two things common in music—this song felt real.

"Guns and Cigarettes"

Album: Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs

Year: 2001

Slug's pointed observation and emotional honesty drive the majority of Atmosphere's discography, often manifesting themselves in the kinds of songs that spawned the ill-fitting subgenre title “emo rap” and simultaneously building a dedicated fanbase. Underrated in Slug's bag of tricks, a twisted sense of fun affords him the ability to turn ego and personal issues into weapons. “Gun's and Cigarettes” plays as a clinic in self-deprecation as a shield, a party anthem that pranks the partygoers and lionizes the host, with Slug delivering the gleefully arrogant and self-consciously absurd (but undoubtedly honesty-laced) chorus: “I want to be bigger than Jesus/Bigger than wrestling/Bigger than the Beatles/And bigger than breast implants/Gon' be the biggest thing to hit these little kids/Bigger than guns, bigger than cigarettes.” “Guns and Cigarettes” casts Slug as the playful leader of the outsiders, the misfit king trying to rap his way to glory or, at least, into the pants of the girl at the end of the bar.

"Fuck You Lucy"

Album: God Loves Ugly

Year: 2002

Perhaps the finest in the "Lucy" series, "Fuck You Lucy" boils over with bile and fire, easily one of the most trenchant songs in Atmosphere's catalog, a clinic in misplaced love and the pain it causes. Its descending, piano-driven melody sets the stage for Slug's anger and surveying of the damage left by a failed relationship. With the brutal focus that marks Atmosphere's finest songs, Slug attacks the topic with an assortment of insightful, acerbic lines, perhaps none more impactful or powerfully layered as the repeated refrain, "And everyone in his life would mistake it as love." Though certainly the type of song that lead to the unfair subgenre label "emo rap," "Fuck You Lucy" is a testament to finding the general in the specific, one man self-flagellating and splaying his problems out for others to relate to, unearthing the raw material that turned so many listeners into diehard Atmosphere fans.

"The Woman with the Tattooed Hands"

Album: Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs

Year: 2001

In a career filled with high concept songs, “The Woman With the Tattooed Hands” stands out as one of Atmosphere's most successful executions, combining Slug's fixation on the women in his life with an impressively wielded surrealism and Ant's beautiful, crackling piano loop. Telling the story of a virginal woman grappling with an internal struggle between good and evil, “The Woman With the Tattooed Hands” employs inventive narrative, as Slug describes the intricate tattoos on his companion springing to life and telling her story. Slug's attention to detail breathe uncommon life into the titular woman as he explores some of his favorite topics: Sex, love, God, the devil, and the constant conflict that unites them.

"Scapegoat"

Album: Overcast!

Year: 1997

Though the Atmosphere sound has evolved greatly over the group's nearly twenty year career, its core will always be Slug's pathos and wit. “Scapegoat” is the duo's cornerstone, Slug's cataloging of insecurities, obstacles, obligations, and grievances that balances acerbic, pitch-black humor with pained reflection. It's self-flagellation that simultaneously points outward, critiquing the generational conditions that produced its voice. Ant's production palette would grow far richer and more soulful as years passed, but the sparseness and simpler focus of his early beats suits the needs of a song like “Scapegoat” perfectly, seven trembling piano notes lifted from a Bee Gees song and grafted onto Mobb Deep caliber drums. Simple in execution, impressive in depth, “Scapegoat” remains Atmosphere's crown jewel, a song as impactful now as when it was released.

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